The Sources of 'SrIvidyA'
In all probability, the sacred
Lalitasahasranama found in Brahmanda Purana is the source of Anandalahari and
Soundaryalahari verses of Srividya. Anandalahari verses can be traced to
Shaivagama Shastra besides Rk Veda Suktas of Mandala X. almost all the names of
Devi Lalitatripurasundari that occur in Srividya are found in Shree Lalita Sahasranamam,
of Lalitopakhyana found in Brahmanda Purana. It is needless to say, all the
eighteen Puranas are the literary work of the ingenious Veda Vyasa, whoever it
might be. Veda Vyasa is the name given to one who classified the bruhat Veda
into four sections and the person is ‘Ekameva Adviteeya’ mahapurusha
‘Dvaipayana’ Shree Krishna Deva’.
Srividya is Knowledge supreme, also the name
of the Devi Maa ‘LalitAtripurasundarI’. Devi Maa, Ambhaa or Amba
is the most kind and benevolent Goddess, the very prowess of Shiva, who is
always well-disposed and always inclined to bestow goodies, wealth, and
knowledge on her disciples. She is ‘sarva-abhishta-pradayani
and will grant ‘what all one wish to get’ at the least of the slightest address
to her as ‘amma’; one may ardently desire and call her by any one of her
thousand names and get his/her wish is fulfilled! The very utterance of her sweet
name is enough to get her attention, just like the child calls her amma,
or as a calf utters ambA. Incidentally, the sound Amba is the sound of
Pranava OM (Rk Veda). The moment an upasaka calls Devi as ambA or
‘Bhavani tvam’, with all his devotion ‘She’, the Goddess,
presents Her Self and bestows him/her with ‘What all one wants’!
Devi
is ‘sarvaSaMkAriNi' (‘doer of all good’). Such a kind and
benevolent Mother giving life and protecting it is none else but ‘Aruna
Bhagavati’, the Sun, shining in the Heavens, says the Arunopanishat
and, it is one’s Bhavana that is all important says Bhavanopanishat.
If the Sun is the main source of all life and activity on earth, it is the
Mother Earth, Bhu Devi who sustains life providing food and shelter. Rather,
it is the womb (yoni) carrying jivas. In fact, the earth is the
only Living Planet in the solar system bubbling with life in joy and happiness.
The planet earth is the product of the Sun.
The Sun is a hot gaseous mass of Hydrogen (H) constantly in a state of flux,
exploding in fission and fusion creating Helium (He4); it is giant atomic
reactor radiating energy in the form of electromagnetic wavicles as Sunrays
giving us heat, light and pranic energy (life). The stellar matter ejected from
solar flares and the gaseous mass of Hydrogen-Helium complex only has created
the planets and the multifarious aspects of this earth. Everything is solar
here. Everything is created and sustained by the Sun here. May be there are different
types of radiation and rays emanating from many a distant or nearer stars that
affect our lives! All these rays are called ‘mayukha’ here. In fact,
these mayukha only create the forms of Devi and Devata and their powers
(shakti).
The
self-effulgent, omniscient, omnipotent, supreme Power (Shakti) is called Aruna
Bhagavati. This in short is the electromagnetic rays that possess
alpha, beta, gamma, X-rays, produce chemical elements, qualities of colour,
numbers, names and forms- all radiating from the Sun. The potent mantra
from Rk Veda is GruNi sUryah AdityaH |
This
explains everything. Electricity from Sun (solar power or radiant energy or
Insolation) and magnetism from the Earth join to become electromagnetic
radiation that does all these magic, trick!
The most intriguing part of the story of
creation is the unmanifest Para Brahman supposed to be Silent but dynamic,
appeared as almost ‘nothing’ –that neither existant nor non-existent,
from whom the ‘Power of Creation’ is delegated to another power called Shiva
(whose creative power is called Shakti or Devi here). This is due to the state
of affairs that prevailed at the beginning of creation when there existed nothing;
nothing- sada or asada (existence or non-existence) was there,
not even ‘then’ (time), as per the famous Nasadiya Sukta, Rk Veda
(Mandala X). It was a state of absolute abstract ‘atyantaabhava’, a
state of bhuman, absolute quietude, dynamic silence, shunyata, but not totally
a vacuum! Everything was silent, calm, quiet and nothing stirred; rather,
nothing such as Light, water, sky existed; ‘Time’ (kaala) and ‘Space’ (desha)
or causation (nimitta) also did not exist then! It was ‘quietude’,
bhuman or Brahman. The concepts of Time and Space were not known at that
motionless moment as nothing stirred! It was ‘nowhere’ that
later parted as- ‘now’ (time) and ‘here’
(space). There was not even ‘Light’; everything was dark. There was no
space, no water or life then. It was all dark, deep, vast, what we call an ‘Ocean
of Consciousness’ (sudha-sindhu). This vast ‘Ocean of
Consciousness’ is believed to be an ever-present or eternal one called the
‘Brahman’!
Let’s remember the fact that it is we who are thinking and
talking now and here about all these- `a story of creation’, that may or
may not be true! It is we who think about this subject of by-gone
eons! Nobody is sure of what existed or not in the beginning. Some great Minds
contemplated on this subject and discovered, experienced, and expressed in abstract
terms sounds inaudible; they, the Rishis said something in unclear words,
somebody even heard these inaudible sounds (shruti) and
told these to their trusted disciples who by memory transcribed or transmitted
in scriptures (smruti); and, now we want to know about all these shruti
and smruti dated back to almost 4 billion years! We, sitting here, in Kaliyuga
(28th since the first manvantara of Vivasvan, the svayambhuva Manu
(Head of Mankind), the Sun (born 4.56 million years ago)want to know about that
unknown event described in Nasadiya sukta of R Veda- the Rishis, their
experience, utterances (the Veda), and the way they arrived at such and such
experiences; strange enough, it may appear that somebody even remembered (smruti)
these so well and codified the experiences of those ancient Rishis, drushtaras, Sage-Seers, and called it ‘the Veda’-
the ‘Whole Truth’; then followed scriptures after scriptures like the
Upanishat, Brahma Sutras, and the eighteen Puranas.
It is now our turn to carefully study and
evaluate these scriptures and arrive at some rational, meaningful, reasonably
acceptable conclusion. Whatever the scriptures we possess as ‘shruti’ or
‘smruti’, or the texts in print, or manuscripts do not take us beyond a
few thousand years; moreover, these texts are neither complete, authentic, nor
are they original ones. Many people have meddled with them and might have added
or subtracted matter from the original (like they have done with the Upanishat);
moreover, what we call the ‘written’ or printed and published scripts are only
of recent origin (may be created within a thousand years). Hence, nothing sure
can be said about these. Then how do we arrive at the Truth?
These, so called ancient scriptures, have one thing in common. It is the
sanctity aspect and the secrecy, the coded language full of symbols, icons (pratima),
signs, coded language and diagrams that are important! There are at least
fifteen possible interpretations to each and every word of these scripts as
declared by Bhaskararaya, an eminent author of Shubhagodaya Bhashya on
Soundaryalahari. Now, it is very easy to follow the methodology and techniques
adopted by the ancient Seers such as contemplation and meditation, find the
Truth for ourselves. This is what we are doing here now with the beautiful
poems, the sacred verses or potent mantra of Shree Vidya. We take some of the
mantra, one by one, and go into dhyana, contemplation, dharana and get into a
state of turiyaa and just not find but experience the answer. Whatever
experienced in samadhi need no further proof (pramana).
Thus,
the only method of svadhyaya is to study the available scripts and meditate, contemplate,
take to dhyanam, japam, dharana and samadhi (total absorption). This is the
surest means of arriving at the ‘Truth’. But, these yogic practices are
difficult unless one is trained in it and practiced steadfast enough. One
requires an experienced Guru, Teacher to guide in all these esoteric spiritual
practices. Only when we practice yoga regularly in a steadfast way we can
contemplate on any subject and go into trance and then arrive at some
understanding, that too in an exalted state of Transcendental Meditation ™ (turiyaa,
Samadhi), and that is enough!
Accordingly, we take up this
narration of story of creation from Shree Vidya here as one may experience it
himself in deep contemplation, aradhana, or upasana.
The conclusion we arrive at, ‘as experienced
from our spiritual practices’, in yogic trance is ample ‘Truth’ enough to know
the reality, the Truth about the world, as well as about our self.
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